Filling out the T4A slip

Enter the last name of the person to whom you made the payment, followed by the first name and initials. Directly below the name, enter the person's address, including the province, territory, or U.S. state, Canadian postal code or U.S. zip code, and country.

Enter your operating or trading name in the space provided on each slip.

Enter the four digits of the calendar year in which you made the payment to the recipient.

Enter the recipient's social insurance number (SIN), as provided by the employee. If you do not have the SIN, enter nine zeros. For more information, see Filling out T4A slips.

Make sure the SIN and name you enter on the T4A slip for each recipient are correct. If the individual does not give you their SIN, you must be able to show that you made a reasonable effort to get it. For example, if you contact an individual by mail to ask for their SIN, record the date of your request and keep a copy of any correspondence that relates to it.

If you do not try to get a SIN, you may be charged a penalty of $100 for each failure. If you cannot get a SIN from the recipient, file your information return, with nine zeros, on or before the last day of February following the calendar year to which the information return applies. For more information, see Failure to obtain your employee's social insurance number (SIN).

For more information, see Information Circular IC82-R2, Social Insurance Number Legislation that Relates to the Preparation of Information Slips or visit the Service Canada Web site.

If the recipient of the reported amount is a business (sole proprietor, partnership, or corporation), enter the recipient's account number.

Enter the taxable part of annuity payments you paid to an employee, retired employee, or survivor or spouse of an employee out of, or under, a superannuation or registered pension fund or plan, including disability benefits paid as a life annuity.

Special situations

• In general, you do not include benefits paid from an unregistered pension plan in box 016. Instead, periodic payments from an unregistered pension plan are included using code 109, and lump sum payments from an unregistered pension plan are included using code 190. One exception is where you made periodic payments from an unregistered pension plan to a Canadian resident for services that the person rendered in a period throughout which the person did not reside in Canada. Those payments should be included in box 016
• Include disability benefits paid as a life annuity out of a superannuation or RPP in box 016. Include any other disability benefits paid out of superannuation or pension plan in the "Other information" area, using code 125
• If you made payments out of an employee benefit plan (EBP) that are not payments of superannuation or pension benefits, these should be reported on a T4 slip. For more information, see Guide RC4120, Employers' Guide – Filing the T4 Slip and Summary
• Do not include amounts paid out of a retirement compensation arrangement. Use a T4A-RCA slip, Statement of Distributions from a Retirement Compensation Arrangement (RCA), for these amounts
• Indian (exempt income) – pension or superannuation – Pension or superannuation income is usually exempt from tax when a person receives it as a result of employment income that was exempt from tax. If a part of the employment income was exempt, then a similar part of these amounts is also exempt. Do not include exempt income in box 016. Instead, include it in the “Other information” area using code 146
• Include veterans' benefits eligible for pension splitting in box 016. For more information, please see Code 128 – Veterans' benefits eligible for pension splitting

In box 018, enter the taxable part of a single payment out of a pension fund or plan including any single payment resulting from a:

• withdrawal from the plan, retirement from employment, or death of an employee or former employee
• termination of, amendment to, or modification of the plan
• reimbursement of any over-contributions to the plan

Also, enter the taxable part of any single payment out of a deferred profit sharing plan (DPSP) including a single payment due to a withdrawal from the plan, retirement from employment, death of an employee or former employee, or reimbursement of any over-contributions to the plan.

Special situations

• Non-registered plan – You have to identify pension benefits you paid from a pension fund or plan that is not registered. Report the amount in box 018. Also, in the "Other information" area, enter code 190 and the amount of the payment
• If you include lump-sum payments out of RPPs and DPSPs accrued to December 31, 1971, report the amount in box 018, in the "Other information" area, enter code 110 and the amount of the payment
• Direct transfers – Do not include direct transfers of RPP lump-sum payments to RRSPs, SPPs, PRPPs, RRIFs, or other RPPs that are transferred according to subsections 147.3(1) to (8) of the Income Tax Act (ITA). Similarly, do not report direct transfers of DPSP lump-sum payments to RRSPs, SPPs, PRPPs, RRIFs, or other DPSPs that are transferred according to subsection 147(19) of the ITA. These amounts are not reported when they are directly transferred under these subsections, and the receiving carrier should not issue receipts. You can use Form T2151, Direct Transfer of a Single Amount Under Subsection 147(19) or Section 147.3, to document these direct transfers
• Amounts not eligible for transfer – Amounts transferred that are greater than the amounts allowed under subsections 147.3(1) to (8) or 147(19) of the ITA are considered income in the year they are transferred. Report such amounts in box 018. The receiving carrier should issue a receipt for these excess transfers
  If you paid a single amount out of an RPP or a DPSP to an individual or you transferred such an amount that we consider to be income, you must report this amount in the "Other information" area, using code 108 for an RPP and code 180 for a DPSP
• Deferred profit-sharing plan (DPSP) – Use box 018 to report the total of amounts you allocated or reallocated in the year under a DPSP or a revoked plan to a person described in paragraph 147(2)(k.2) of the ITA for:
  • employer contributions made to the plan after December 1, 1982
  • amounts forfeited in the plan if these amounts are withdrawn from the plan during the year

If you allocated an amount under subsection 147(10.3) of the ITA in a previous year and you made the payment in the current year, you have to report the amount of the payment. In the "Other information" area, enter code 180 and the amount of the payment.

• Lump-sum payments – non-resident – You may have paid superannuation or pension benefits to a Canadian resident under an unregistered pension plan for services that the person rendered in a period throughout which the person did not reside in Canada. If you paid the benefits in a lump-sum, report the amount in box 018. The recipient may be able to transfer the amount to an RPP, SPP, PRPP or RRSP and deduct the amount of the transfer under paragraph 60(j) if the conditions in that provision are satisfied. However, if you made such a direct transfer, report the amount in box 018, and in the "Other information" area, enter code 102 and the amount of the transfer
• If you made payments out of an EBP that are not payments of superannuation or pension benefits, these should be reported on a T4 slip. For more information, see Guide RC4120, Employers' Guide – Filing the T4 Slip and Summary for further information
• Lump-sum payments that you cannot transfer, that are not reported elsewhere – If you paid an amount that does not come from an RPP or a DPSP that is not eligible for transfer and that is not required to be reported elsewhere, report the amount in box 018 and in the "Other information" area, enter code 158 and the amount of the payment
• Indian (exempt income) – lump-sum payments – Lump-sum payment income is usually exempt from tax when a person receives it as a result of employment income that was exempt from tax. If a part of the employment income was exempt, then a similar part of these amounts is also exempt. Do not include the exempt income in box 018. Instead, include it in the "Other information" area using code 148

Enter the amount of commissions you paid to an independent agent. Do not include GST/HST paid to the recipient on those services.

Enter the total income tax you deducted from the recipient's remuneration during the year. This includes the federal, provincial (except Quebec), and territorial taxes that apply. Leave the box blank if you did not deduct tax.

Do not include an amount you withheld under the authority of a garnishee or a requirement to pay that applies to the employee's previously assessed tax arrears.

Enter payments from an annuity that an individual bought with a refund of premiums from a deceased annuitant's RRSP. For more information, see archived Interpretation Bulletin IT-500R, Registered Retirement Savings Plans – Death of an Annuitant.

Enter annuity payments from a life annuity purchased from the proceeds of a life income fund or from the proceeds of a registered retirement income fund.

Enter only annuity payments from an ALDA in box 024. For information about ALDA purchases, see Code 037 – Advanced life deferred annuity purchase.

If you include annuity payments under an income-averaging annuity contract, also report the amount of the payments in the Other information area, using code 111.

If you include instalment or annuity payments under a DPSP, also report the amount of the payment in Other information, using code 115. For more information, see Information Circular IC77-­1R5, Deferred Profit Sharing Plans.

The taxable part of annuity payments you paid to an employee, retired employee, or survivor or spouse of an employee out of, or under, a superannuation or pension fund or plan, including disability benefits paid as a life annuity should be reported in box 016 instead of box 024.

Enter any fees or other amounts paid for services. Do not include GST/HST paid to the recipient for these services.

Enter the 15-character account number you use to send us your recipients' deductions. This number appears in the top left corner of the statement of account that we send to you each month, and consists of three parts – the nine-digit business number, a two-letter program identifier, and a four-digit reference number.

Your account number should not appear on the copies of the T4A slips that you give to the recipients.